Q139332

Picture of the Day · NASA

Pathfinder on Mars

2026-07-04

On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.

via NASA APOD

Key facts

Discovered by

G. Kulin

Discovery site

Konkoly Obs.

Discovery date

26 February 1938

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h ʌ n i ə /

Named after

Hungarians , (Nation of Hungaria)

Alternative designations

1938 DZ 1 · 1953 YA, 1953 YM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Meliboea

Observation arc

79.35 yr (28,981 days)

Aphelion

3.7395 AU

Perihelion

2.4798 AU

Semi major axis

3.1096 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.48 yr (2,003 days)

Mean anomaly

194.78 °

Mean motion

0° 10 46.92 / day

Inclination

14.211°

Longitude of ascending node

21.352°

Argument of perihelion

94.487°

Dimensions

18.76 ± 5.25 km , 20.00 ± 6.07 km , 20.910 ± 0.107 km , 21.16 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox